Visions from Beyond the Grave
by li-flower
Summary: What once was no longer exists. The past is said to haunt us, and for Brandon and the others, this occurs in a literal sense. These are the unspoken words of a dead time, a reconciliation with the present. Poems and oneshots. Possible spoilers
1. Sunset

A/N: I've only seen 4 episodes of _Gungrave_, but I'm absolutely in love with the series because it reminds so much of _The Outsiders _by S.E. Hinton, as well as her other works (read them!). In fact, this poem was inspired by an ideain _The Outsiders_ that two people from different worlds may not be so unlike one another since they saw the same sunset. This is how I see the relationship between Brandon and Maria. Expect more _Gungrave _stuff from me because I find the characters and story so compelling. --Hana Li

Disclaimer: I do not own _Gungrave. _Nor do I own _The Outsiders_ (which belongs to the wonder S.E. Hinton, who inspired me to be writer).

_Sunset_

They called him  
A boy from the wrong side;  
They thought she was  
An ordinary girl.  
He struggles to live  
On the streets;  
She wants to escape  
The overprotective walls around her.

In his world,  
Misdeeds lead to violence,  
Where the only way to avoid death  
Is to deal it  
With silent fury.  
In her world,  
Of college classes and evening dates,  
Things can work out  
If you give them a chance. . .  
Perhaps.

How can they see eye to eye  
When their ways of daily life  
Differ so much?  
There is one thing that is the same,  
And that's all they need:  
Love.

How can we live in two different worlds  
When we see the same sunset?


	2. Someone to Speak

A/N: This was actually the 1st_ Gungrave_ poem I wrote. I made a few revisions before posting this. Again, this has a bit of _The Outsiders_ in it, but the idea came from I tributeI wanted to do forJolice, Kenny, and Nathan. -- Hana Li

Disclaimer: I do not own _Gungrave._

_Someone to Speak for Us_

We are the forgotten,  
Lost youth, whose  
Family is each other.  
We live in the shadows,  
In the dirty slums,  
Trying to find a way to live  
Decently.  
No one will cry for us  
When we die;  
No one will remember us  
When the week is over.  
No one will tell our story,  
Except for him,  
The silent one.  
His wordless presence  
Is all we need  
To tell you the truth  
And open your eyes. 


	3. Vindication

Summary: Sometimes things were never meant to be.

A/N: Sorry if Grave seems a bit OOC.A lot of me isspeaking through him because I'vejust gone through something similiar to what I'vewritten. It's a bit eerie how I can see the parallels between my life and Brandon's (although the circumstances are very different). Enjoy! -- Hana Li

_Vindication_

I was in denial. That's the simplest truth I can give to you. I lived in an idealistic world; even when I was taking away all those lives, part of me believed that everything would still be okay. Was I wrong to be so naive? Not that it mattered because we lose that innocent optimism at some point in our lives.

I even saw it coming. We weren't going to be best friends anymore; that was inevitable. I knew that one day I had to choose between you or Maria, but I was selfish. Couldn't I give my love and devotion the one I considered my brother as well as the love of my life? In the meantime, you seemed to have forgotten how we used to be. In the end, I was trying to salvage a friendship with a figment of my past to desperately preserve my own past self.

It's funny how I was the one they all feared. Of course, they never knew that every time I had my finger on the trigger, there would be a voice screaming in the back of my mind for me to stop. That voice would be quickly silenced by the notion of you, Maria, and the ones who died for us. I did this all for you.

You'd probably say the same. After all, you're the one who prevented me from living in squalor. Even back in the day, you were the one who held the gang together. Perhaps that's why I wordlessly stuck by your side too long. I owed you a lot, and you knew what you were doing. Now I know that I was only a pawn in your grandiose scheme to take over Millennion. Why do you feel like you have to always be in control?

I'm not mad; nor am I sad. The remnant of my human heart that was not destroyed in my time as a sweeper ached at the idea that my one-time closest friend was responsible for– no, capable of– this much destruction. However, I was weak enough to let myself fall to ruin. The pain came from wishful thinking: that somehow we can salvage this bond and return to what we were. Although the hatred began as a response to your refusal to see things any other way, it was directed more towards myself– for not being able to stand up for my values.

So I'm glad to have died, though I consider it more of a birth. I never really lived before then. Everything I did was a service to you, a reaction to events. I had no opinion. You may argue that I did act do things on my own, such as going to see Maria, but even then I was holding back. If Brandon Heat had been his own person, then she wouldn't have died.

Finally, I can be honest with myself and everyone else. Even if my new life revolves around vengeance, I can say that it's a decision I made on my own. Thank you, old friend, for freeing me. Now it's time to return the favor.


End file.
